pages

Friday, August 08, 2008

Maine Boats

You don't go to a Maine watercolor workshop and not paint a boat. It just isn't on. The second and third day out we spent on the docks at Mechanic street. David starts his demo at 9AM. Note his beginning washes look more like simple colored shapes...The finish is still very much about color and visual shapes and pattern and less about the boat. Still for me, a boat is a boat is a boat. And I find boats just as daunting as bridges - so out comes the Moleskine sketchbook. It's thumbnail time. My unfinished so-called boat painting...blech :( So I take another route and refer to David's ever-present portfolio. Ah ha! A beautiful boat painting by Edward Hopper - I'll do a thumbnail of this to warm me up!Voila!Doing the copy is so much fun, I plunge in to a larger version to see more clearly what Hopper was up to.*Never hesitate to make copies of paintings you like. It's the best way to put yourself in another artist's shoes and understand what they were doing. After all, you're in a great tradition. Leonardo da Vinci was an apprentice toVerrocchio and copying was part of the job. Later on I do a very blurry, atmospheric boat - you can get away with a lot less information when there's mist on the scene... Here's an exquisitely misty boat of J.M.W.Turner's.

End of every workshop day at 4, David gives us an hour crit and you learn from everyone's work. End of a trip to Maine......you have to have at least one bite of a stack of blueberry pancakes.It's de rigeur you know. It's back to Paris next week.BONNE WEEK-END!

I am going to miss Maine too. It was a lovely week away with you. It was fun seeing all the work, Your work and the lovely area. And those pancakes. . . . yummm. What a way to end the trip.Thanks for taking us along.

I leave Maine with a lot of regret...perhaps because I've actually been there...so much easier to imagine. I'm quite surprised that boats - or anything for that matter- give you pause. Your 1st boat was quite admirable. Looking forward to some French landscapes!

Your trip looked wonderful Carol. You get The Gold Star for stepping out of your cake box for the weekend. It paid, as your boat watercolors are impressive! Thanks for the nice comment about my photo album.Much appreciated!xoConstance